I’ve had a consistent headache for days, and I’m tired. I need to prioritize some gentleness.
In the midst of this, and immensely bigger, it is an understatement to say that our world needs gentleness… The war in Ukraine continues on after more than a year. Migrants are desperately on the move but are impeded at borders or are lost at sea. Israeli civilians have been kidnapped violently and are being used as hostages, rightfully terrifying Jews around the globe. The people of Palestine have lived in what has been termed an open air prison for decades and are now in immediate danger from bombs and tanks.
When I was on my daily bike ride, I noticed a kid walking down the street to his house, having returned from school. He looked like he was about 8 years old. I wondered, “How are kids processing all of this right now, particularly Jewish children and Muslim children? How are they doing?”
A car came down the road in the opposite direction of me. I needed to move into an area on my side of the street where there is construction. There was nothing dangerous about this, but I was going fast enough that when I hit a bump, I felt that on the bike, and the e-bike battery popped off. No big deal; I was able to fix it.
But this kiddo saw it happen, and though I passed him previously on the bike, he now was about to pass me on foot, and he said,
“Would you like a raisin?” He asked. “It’s my last one.”
I was so touched at this sweetheart. “Oh no, thank you. But that is so kind of you to offer. That’s very sweet.”
It really was. And this offer of a last raisin fixed nothing of these problems of the world, but it moved me. And for a minute, thanks to this darling kiddo, the world was gentler. I hope this child is receiving gentleness in every place where he goes. Children around our globe deserve gentleness in every place where they go.
We need a gentler world — in the every day and on a global scale.
—Renee Roederer
Smuggling Grace 